Renovation of the Campus Activities Center is scheduled to begin in November and the remodeling of Harbor Hall (the former Dali Museum) is currently in progress.

Six Entrepreneurs Begin Gazelle Lab Initiative

The Washington Post and the St. Petersburg Times both featured stories on the six startups selected to participate in the launch of the Gazelle Lab at USFSP. Part of the Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SEI) Alliance in the College of Business, the Gazelle Lab provides a three-month program for the startups and investment from the Gazelle Lab Fund. One of the startups is led by USFSP student Jeff Baird.

The program culminates on November 17 with Demo Day, a chance for each startup to pitch their potentially high-impact firm to investors from around the country.

Three public lecture sessions are available on Tuesday, Sept. 13 during the second annual Executive Forum hosted by the USFSP College of Business. The forum brings corporate executives to speak with students and the public on contemporary issues in business. All sessions will take place in the Campus Activities Center at USFSP.

6 p.m. Financial Crisis and JournalismJournalist Erin Arvedlund, author of the book, Too Good to be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff will be joined by Paul Tash, Chairman of the Times Publishing Company, for a discussion titled, Too Good To Be True: Can Madoff Happen Again?

Cuong Le, a USFSP MBA student and member of the Beta Alpha Psi business honor society, was part of a team that won first place in a competition at the society's annual international convention. Le's team was among 15 to compete in Project Run with It, a contest in which teams analyze a business issue for an existing non-profit organization. This was the second year a USFSP student was part of the winning team in the competition.

Three USFSP students traveled with chapter adviser Patty Gaukel to Denver in August for the convention: Le, Chad Mello and Anthony Hunter. The Beta Alpha Psi chapter earned a Superior rating, an honor given to approximately one-third of chapters worldwide.

New Student Juggles More than Classes

Dan Brown, a new first-year student at USFSP, arrived on campus ready to share his passion and talent for juggling. The criminology major is establishing the first juggling club at USFSP where members can learn juggling skills from him and each other. He practices about 10 hours per week. If he's preparing for a competition, his practice time doubles.

In the less than five years Brown has dedicated to juggling, he's won the Florida state juggling competition four times and placed third in the World Juggling Advanced Clubs competition that aired on ESPN3.

A free screening of the acclaimed documentary, Waiting for Superman, on Monday, Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m. will be followed by a panel discussion with a local school principal and other local education professionals.

The screening and panel discussion will be held in the Steidinger Auditorium at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. This program is hosted by the Honors Program at USFSP, the education honor society Kappa Delta Pi and the College of Education.

Julie Armstrong, associate professor of English, will talk about her new book, Mary Turner and the Memory of Lynching, at a release party on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Studio@620.

Mary Turner and the Memory of Lynching traces the reaction of activists, artists, writers, and local residents to the brutal lynching of a pregnant woman near Valdosta, Georgia in 1918. Armstrong's work provides insight into the different roles black women played in the history of lynching: as victims, as loved ones left behind, and as those who fought back.

The release party is in collaboration with the playwriting group Blue Scarf Collective.

French Government Honors Greenberg-Schneider

Erika Greenberg-Schneider, visiting instructor of art at USFSP, will be honored as a Chevalier de l'Odre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters), a prestigious award given by the French Government. GaŽl de Maisonneuve, French Consul of Miami, will present the award during a private ceremony Sept. 15 at the Tampa Museum of Art.

The Order of Arts and Letters was created in 1957 by Andrť Malraux, the French Minister of Culture, to recognize eminent artists, writers and scholars (both French and of other nationalities) who have made significant contributions toward the recognition of French Art and Culture in the world.

Greenberg-Schneider opened Bleu Acier, a Fine Art Print Publisher and Gallery in Tampa, in 2003. The gallery specializes in works on paper and prints of mid-career and established French artists. She has devoted her career to publishing Fine Art limited edition prints by French artists and has curated numerous exhibitions concerning French art and philosophy.

Save the Dates: Human Genome Lecture Series

USFSP will host a series of five lectures in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the sequencing of the human genome.

The lectures will be held Thursday evenings at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library beginning on Oct. 20. Subsequent lectures will follow on Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, 10 and 17.

African Journalists Visit USFSP in November

For a third year in a row, the Department of Journalism and Media Studies will host a group of English-speaking African journalists through the U.S. Department of State's Edward R. Murrow Program, a partnership among the Department of State, the Aspen Institute and select U.S. schools of journalism. About 150 participants from throughout the world engage in discussions with professors, students and journalists in the United States. Supported by the International Council of the Tampa Bay Region, the local program brings 18 journalists to USFSP from Nov. 3-7 for sessions with JMS faculty and students and the Poynter Institute, and visits to local news media and other sites. More details on public sessions with the journalists will be available soon.

Durand's Work Wins Parenting Book Award

The Mom's Choice Awards has named Optimistic Parenting: Hope and Help for You and Your Challenging Child among the best in family-friendly media, products and services. This strategy-filled guide by Mark Durand, professor of psychology at USFSP, was honored as a Gold Recipient in the Parenting - Special & Exceptional Needs category for books. The Mom's Choice Awards recognize authors, inventors, companies, parents and others for their efforts in creating quality family-friendly media, products and services.

Castor Kicks Off LeaderSpeak Lecture Series

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor spoke Aug. 25 at the first LeaderSpeak lecture for the 2011-2012 academic year. LeaderSpeak brings community leaders to USFSP to discuss leadership with students and the public.

The next LeaderSpeak event is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 29. More information on the speaker and topic will be available soon. Check the USFSP Events Calendar for information on LeaderSpeak and other events.

Save the Date: Times Festival of Reading 2011

USF St. Petersburg will host the annual St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading on Saturday, Oct. 22.